In this week's Odder News: a Pushkin theme park, a boot-kicking contest, and just the kind of entrepreneurial shake-up the world needs right now.

Three Russian films have been shortlisted for the Oscars this year, in three different categories. Some critics say it is unprecedented and a sign the country's creative industry is on the upturn.

Kseniya is an architect, who found her passion in jewelry making.

Urban legends and superstitions made some sculptures in Moscow and St. Petersburg too famous for their own good, and some culture officials have had enough.

Nikita was trained as a philologist, but gave it all up to co-found a craft brewery.

Travelers hailing from 53 countries can now enter St. Petersburg on a hassle-free (and FREE) electronic visa. Dobro pozhalovat!

Petersburg’s most famous statue raises as many questions as it answers.

Tinder, fish soup, and wakeboarding — these make both entertaining pastimes and fantastic publicity stunts.

An interview with St. Petersburg photographer Viktor Mogilat, about his thought provoking art.

Tough time learning Russian? It’s not just you. Russians themselves frequently struggle to determine what is “correct.” 

Today, now that the huge dome of St. Isaac’s towers over the center of the city, not far from the granite embankment, the sumptuous Senate and Synod Building, and the iconic Bronze Horseman statue, it is hard to imagine that in its first incarnation this church was much smaller and located on the Admiralty Meadow.

Dusya is a Vasiliyevsky Island local, whose job it is to promote a creative space located on the island – Sevkabel Port.